Yes, research shows that pheromones may be effective in attracting members of the opposite sex. These sexually attractive subliminal scents are produced naturally by the body, and theoretically, one should be able to bottle them. Problem is, its only theoretical. We don't actually know how to do it. Researchers are not even completely clear on how they work in humans.

That has not stopped scores of companies from putting pheromones into everything from sprays to massage creams. Since we don't really understand them, it seems pretty unlikely that an adult novelty company without a research staff would be able to produce an effective product.

In addition, any company can put out a novelty and call the contents pheromones, but you won't have any idea what is actually in it. It is completely unregulated. Even assuming they are using actual pheromones, there are lots of different types, most having nothing to do with sexual attraction. As long as they are not making medical claims, they can suggest pretty much anything they want to.

Splashing on some pheromones can work under specific conditions. The conditions require that you actually believe the product works, giving you more confidence. Confident people are more attractive to the opposite sex.

To actually know if a pheromone product works, you need double blind placebo controlled testing. Few companies do double blind testing, meaning that some of the people had the pheromones and some did not, but no one knew who did. Without this, you have no idea if the product works.

A large number of studies on androstenone, often claimed as a key pheromone sexual releaser to attract women, have found no conclusive behavioral effects. A 2002 study by San Francisco State University researchers seemed to indicate that pheromones can be sexually attractive to men, but it was a fairly small study.

There are actually several types of pheromones. Releaser pheromones, which act rapidly within a few seconds to minutes, are typically what you are looking for in a sexual attractant. According to a just published study by the largest university in Sweden: "Although a large commercial market for human releaser pheromones already exists, no peer-reviewed data reporting pheromones that would classify as releaser pheromones have been documented in either humans or Old World monkeys." This study will bring you up to date on our current knowledge (and lack of knowledge) about pheromones.

Signaling pheromones do seem to be significant in humans, but here is the catch: you become attracted to those who are the most genetically dissimilar, an evolutionary adaptation to make sure that we stay genetically diverse. This is going to be different in every person, so it could never be synthesized and put in a bottle.